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A couple of days back I shared my article about retaining women in the workforce and one of the responses I got was this,

‘Why should women be retained, Are men not working! companies should retain the loyal and capable resources, not the genders, Grow up, stop this gender bias articles’

Well, now I would like to assume that he had read the article before writing this. If he did, he clearly didn’t read it well enough or completely missed the point. But if he didn’t then several things are clear from what he wrote.

One, the concept of gender parity is alien to him. Two, he doesn’t comprehend the extent of gender bias that is rampant in every sphere of this society. His reply reeking with complete disregard for that. Three, in spite of being educated (I’m assuming so because he is working in a reputed company) he is completely oblivious to the issues faced by working women or chooses to ignore them. Four, he thinks like one of those men who sit at the helm to make decisions for women with thought processes set in antediluvian times. And we all can take a wild guess as to how those decisions turn out. Five, he belongs to that mindset where women are still considered to be the other, the unwanted or the burden. Six, he, well, let me not go there.

Anyways, his is not the first such comment that I have got on my articles written on women’s issues. And it certainly isn’t going to be the last. There have been distasteful comments before and there will be more after. But with every such comment, I realise how important it is to speak up.

Like it or not, the world is still predominantly run by men. Yes, even in 2017. Remember the photo taken with Trump surrounded by men signing an executive order affecting women? Well, you see what I mean? And that’s why when women point out what is wrong with workplace policies or the social set up, it ruffles the feathers of those people in control, most still predominately male. Forget about a place at the table, they don’t want to shift an inch from their positions of power. They don’t want women anywhere near for this open tyranny of theirs, of the testosterone-driven sex is threatened. A woman wanting, aspiring and dreaming for more is a threat they counter with such rebuffs and in some cases, threats and assaults, that it just reaffirms how difficult it is going to be to achieve gender parity even by 2030!

It’s interesting how a bunch of men have the power to decide if we can go for abortions or not. It’s interesting how the power to pass legislations on equal pay or representation for women is with men. What jobs we qualify for, what we should wear, the list is just endless. And the sad thing is we have been accepting this forever.

I wonder what men will do if a bunch of women suddenly have the power to pass legislations on and about men. Say, men need to take oral contraceptives too or else they will be penalised for unplanned pregnancies. Or, men cannot shave because that’s illegal. Or, say, men can’t take any cigarette or tea breaks at work. Or, men who don’t do dishes will have to pay hefty fines. Men who can’t finish work within normal working hours be demoted. Men can’t go out at night. Men can’t wear those boxers to the neighbourhood stores. You get the drift, don’t you?

Of course not. They are not accustomed to that.

So, how is it that one-half of the population gets to make laws for the other half without equal representation? And how is it that women always fall in the other half? Is it because it is still a man’s world?

“Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with absolute truth.” ― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

For centuries now we have been led to believe that we are the others, that we are the weaker sex. Have you even wondered why it wasn’t the other way around? Why didn’t it so happen that the male sex became the other? Thinkers and philosophers, mostly men, have been positing that women are the inferior sex for ages and we have been swallowing it without question. We shouldn’t have because the males assumed the roles of both judge and jury propagating their bias. But then women did start raising questions, that’s when it became even more imperative to keep us within our ‘limits’. Why do you think everything concerning women becomes a discussion attributed to our hormones? To discredit any authenticity that our arguments may hold, why else?

Start a discussion about the status of your relationship, it must be hormones. Ask for that promotion or talk about the prejudice at work, well, it must again be hormones. It’s a man’s world and our aversion to the feminist movement in our attempt to be politically correct is making it easier for them. The thing is, we cannot take our rights for granted not when the power to take that backs still rests on men. That’s why every time we are being bullied into silence, we should stand up for ourselves and start being we, we women.

It may be a man’s world but we shouldn’t let this go on unhindered. It’s our world too, equally. You with me?

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This post is part of the #IAmAFeminist series on the blog. Inspired by a TEDx talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – We Should All Be Feminists, I intend to talk about the need for feminism through my posts, posts on my experience and observation as a female. I intend to talk about issues concerning women.

Join me and let’s work towards a world of gender parity. Remember, each voice counts. Tell me your story.

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Linking to #mg hosted by Mackenzie Glanville